I am thrilled to have joined Seton Hall Law’s faculty full-time in July 2019 after almost a decade of practice as a corporate and financial markets attorney.  As I gear up to teach Business Associations and Securities Regulation in the coming year, I am excited to leverage my practice experience in developing an onramp for students into the world of business law. 

This year's class of Leadership Fellows engaged with the community in a variety of ways, launching a website to guide first generation law students on the road to law school and success in law school, partnering with the Association for Children of NJ to create a "know your rights" guide, teaming with a variety of high schools in Newark, Jersey City and beyond to empower those hoping to go to law school, forming a relationship with Girls with Pearls, a mentoring group aimed at empowering young women as they begin their professional careers, and pairing with the U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S. District Court of NJ to facilitate the aims of the ReNew Re-entry Program.

I initially did not see the e-mail for the Karnes trip.  I will admit there are many e-mails that I delete without reading because I know that most of the opportunities offered do not fit my life.  I am part of Seton Hall Law’s first weekend class.  I commute from Long Island.  I work full-time in a state trial court.  I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, and take on many other roles throughout the day.  My life is hectic. 

I finally took the plunge and brought my kids to work on this so-named day. I was excited to teach my son and daughter a little bit about what I do (they still don't know), introduce them to my coworkers, and watch them explore this "way awesome" building. While we did bond over some of the daily grind, they really opened my eyes to the place I've studied or worked the last 14 years.   

Here's a list of some of their questions from the day:

It’s going to sound cliché, but as I approached the end of my 2L summer I started asking myself what I could do to leave the law school better than I had found it. It had been a bumpy road for me, largely because of my own struggles as a first-generation law student. Although I felt very confident about my own future, having secured a job offer with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, I realized that others were dealing with similar issues and I decided that founding a First-Generation Law Students Association (FGLSA) at Seton Hall Law School was the way to go. With plenty of help from administration and other students, the group was successfully formed in September of 2018. The mission of the organization is to create a community for all first-generation students to come together to tackle law school and the legal profession with support. FGLSA now has roughly 60 members, with more joining every week. 

(Updated October 21,2019) Congratulations!  You’ve been admitted to a few different law schools!  Now – you just need to figure out how to pay for it!  You thought the hard part was over – but, now, it seems like it is just beginning.  Let me help you get a realistic vision of what to expect/what not to expect with regards to paying for law school.

As a law librarian, I’ve learned to expect the same response from people any time I get asked what I do: polite bafflement. For most people, law and libraries are two separate professions, and I am often the first law librarian they’ve ever met. So I explain a bit and convey the salient point: they may still have quiet reputations, but modern law libraries are actually hubs of activity and support for law students, law faculty, and the legal community. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the ways the law library at Seton Hall helps its law students.

I’m thrilled to have joined Seton Hall Law’s faculty full-time in January 2019 after 11 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  My hope is that my background will provide a unique opportunity for students to learn not only about the key statutes and case law relating to the various classes I teach, but also to gain insight into life as a practicing lawyer.

The Leadership Fellows Program at Seton Hall Law provides a unique opportunity for law students to cultivate essential leadership skills through experiential learning, teaching, engaging with select readings, participating in the Leadership Speaks series, and planning and executing a dynamic leadership project. Here is how this year's Leadership Fellows Amy Eng ('20) and Deidre Cooney ('20) describe their experiences in the program: 

On the first day of orientation, Dean Boozang approached the podium and announced an obvious, but difficult truth to grasp: “Ninety-percent of you in this room will not be in the top ten-percent of your class.”  As future lawyers, we know the profound impact grades can have and can get caught in the trap of constantly checking and calculating GPA.  Yet it is a sad and undeniable truth of law school: not everyone can be top of the class.  But this in no way means that the other ninety-percent of the class has no hope of success.  In Professor Paula Franzese’s Leadership Fellows Program and its attendant Leadership, Ethics and Decision-Making class, students learn that grades are only one aspect of a multidimensional you.

My most recent Dinner with the Dean was incredibly fun and relaxed - the upper-class students and I know each other well by now. The first part of the night we shared about the insecurities caused by the economic divide – the challenges of going to school when you feel you have fewer resources than your classmates. The conversation was actually started because Seton Hall Law is establishing a Food Pantry for students living with food insecurity. And that got us talking about resources for students who don’t have a professional wardrobe, for which we also have sources through the Office of Career Services.